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Thrush?????

Hi! My name is Brandi and I am new to this forum. I have a question and would appreciate any input...

My son, Evan, is four weeks old today. YEAH! I have been breastfeeding him exclusively since birth. My daughter, who is four, was breastfed until she was three.

When Evan latches on, I have this extreme pain in my nipple. It hapens on both sides. It hurts really bad and after a while, it will stop as he nurses. Sometimes when I am not nursing, my nipples seem to ache some. I never had this problem with my daughter and I know he is latched on correctly. It hurts! Also, sometimes when he takes my nipple, he spits it out and makes a face like it tastes bad. He will even smack his lips and make a really sour face. (Hurts My feelings! )

I looked in his mouth and he has some white residue on his tongue - I thought it was milk. It may be, but I'm not sure. I also tried to look in his mouth, but really couldn't tell if he had any white patches.

What do you think is wrong and how can I fix this problem? Any advice would be helpful!!

Re: Thrush?????

I'm riding tandem on your post. I am in a very similar situation. My daughter also turns 4 weeks old today - how's that for coincidence?!

I think we're doing okay with nursing, but I have similar concerns as you. Her tongue is often white - it looks like she just licked a vanilla ice cream cone. I too thought it was just milk residue, but could it be something else?

When she first latches on, it hurts - like someone bit me. But once she starts nursing, she's fine. Once she's done, my nipples are not perfectly rounded, they are slightly slanted (but not flat). This is a sign of a bad latch, right? I feel like I'm positioning her correctly, but I do think that she should be taking more of me into her mouth - but no matter what I do, I can't get her to open any wider or expand her reach.

My nipples are a little bit sore during the day, but not unbearably so. Is this normal (and hopefully something that will pass) - or do I have to make some corrections?

We have an appointment with the pediatrician on Monday for her one month followup, so I'll ask some of these questions then too.

Re: Thrush?????

Most babies will have a white residue on their tongue's for about an hour or so after a feeding. It's when that white residue doesn't ever go away at all and/or there are white spots/patches on the insides of baby's cheeks and lips. There's certainly nothing wrong with treating yourself and baby for thrush if you suspect it because the treatment(s) are very benign. And there are about 100 different ways to treat thrush, lol. What works for one person may not be very effective for the next

CLKE -- are your nipples lip-stick shaped when they come out of baby's mouth? If so then yes, there's probably a latch issue going on. But also, it's not uncommon for there to be some initial discomfort when baby latches on. As long as that discomfort subsides after initial latch-on then the latch may be alright. Is baby gaining weight and having 5-6 wet diapers per day? At 4 weeks of age baby should still be having 2-3 quarter-sized bowel movement's a day too (after 6 weeks of age it's not uncommon for breastfed babies to go several days between bowel movements). If so then that is good - it tells us that baby is getting what she needs from you. If her latch doesn't hurt you then there's no reason to change it.

Re: Thrush?????

clke,
Do you find that you have a lot of milk? Does dd struggle with your let-down? Choke, gag or come off in the beginning? Is she fussy at other times?

How have her BM's been? Color and frequency the same? How long does she normally feed?

You described your nipple looking slanted-would you say it looks like a tube of new lipstick? Is it damaged in any other way?

Typically sore nipples are caused by a poor latch, but yes they can also be caused by thrush (the white patches in dd mouth can be a sympom of thrush), among other things! But you should not be experiencing regular pain. So it might help to talk with an LLL Leader in person to help you get to the cause of your pain and help you make sure you are still latching correctly!
If you don't know of a Leader in your area, please check the link below. Keep us updated!

Re: Thrush?????

You can certainly just show up if you feel comfortable doing so. Would you consider calling one of the local Leaders and telling her a little about what you told us? She might be able to see you before the meeting (or at least talk to you in person!) and give you some more insight into everything.

Has her weight gain been good, or very rapid?
Sometimes a baby will "trap" the nipple to control the flow of milk when there is a Rapid Milk Ejection or Oversupply. This can lead to pain in the nipple. That was why I asked the other questions in my PP. It is not a difficult thing to deal with, but it certainly is not pleasant to have sore nipples.

I would highly suggest calling a Leader and talking to her about this before the meeting, if you feel comfortable.